The Infinite Game

Understanding the game we are playing

an agreed upon objective (un obiettivo concordato)

at the end of nine innings (una partita di baseball è divisa in 9 tempi di gioco detti inning)

whoever has more runs (mete)

pit finite a player versus a finite player (opporre)

players drop out (abbandonare)

when they run out of the will or of the resources (esaurire)

they will find themselves in quagmire (pantano)

it will outlast every single company on this planet (sopravvivere a)

I didn't agree to those standards (metriche)

You can't suddenly, just arbitrarily, say (così arbitrariamente)

trying to outdo their competition (battere)

a company that is taken down by competitors they know (far fallire)

They were worried about Friendster (piattaforma social)

you can make tactical decisions from studying competition

but not strategic decisions

Strategy Vs. Tactics: The Difference

Strategy defines your long-term goals and how you’re planning to achieve them. In other words, your strategy gives you the path you need toward achieving your organization’s mission.

Tactics are much more concrete and are often oriented toward smaller steps and a shorter time frame along the way. They involve best practices, specific plans, resources, etc. They’re also called “initiatives.”

What makes a good strategy?

A solid strategy reflects the core values of the organization. Your strategic team should gather input from across the organization to ensure there’s alignment between the strategy and each department’s priorities. All strategies should be actionable.

When creating a good strategy, focus on the desired end result (the goal). Your strategy is the foundation for all activities within the organization, and how it’s crafted will guide decision-making as your teams work to achieve those goals.

What makes a good tactic?

A good tactic has a clear purpose that aids your strategy. It has a finite timeline during which specific activities will be completed and their impacts measured.

A tactic for the furniture company would be to analyze manufacturing processes to minimize waste and inefficiencies, thereby decreasing cost and, by extension, prices for customers. The company can clearly measure the success of the tactic by comparing their costs before and after the analysis.

Overall, the rule of thumb for understanding the difference between strategy and tactics is, “Think strategically, act tactically.”

getting more Ted views (visualizzazioni sulla piattaforma TED TALKS)

That's what it's about (si tratta semplicemente di questo)

to get us to look after each other

our main make up (la nostra fondamentale costituzione)

fulfilling, confident life (soddisfacente, sicura)

you have to commit yourself (impegnarsi)

That's just how it works (semplicemente è così che funziona)

Conversation Questions:

· Do you like video games? Why or why not?

· Do you play video games these days? How much time per week do you spend playing them?

· What type of games are good for playing alone? Which are good for playing with other people?

· Do video games help develop skills? What mental or physical skills do they help players to develop?

· Children enjoy video games. How old should a child be before he or she is allowed to play video games?

· It seems that most video game players are male. Why do boys like video games more than girls do?

· Virtual reality systems are gaining popularity these days. Are you excited about the potential of virtual reality? Or are you worried? Why?

· Some video games are very violent. Do you think they influence their players to be violent in real life? If so, what should we do about it?

· Are video games addictive? Why can’t some people stop playing?

Understanding the game we are playing

There’s a game called work or life or love, or whichever one you want, or all of them. In game theory there are two kinds of games, there are finite games and there are infinite games.

A finite game is defined as known-players, fixed rules and an agreed upon objective. Baseball, we all agree what the rules are: at the end of nine innings, whoever has more runs we declare the winner and the game is over. No one ever says: “Wait, wait, wait, if we can just play three more innings, I know we can come back and win”. Doesn't happen. Right? You have winners and you have losers. Right?

Then there is an infinite game. And an infinite game is defined as known and unknown players. The rules are changeable, and the objective is to keep the game in play to perpetuate the game.

When you pit finite a player versus a finite player the system is stable. Baseball is stable. When you pit an infinite player versus an infinite player the system is also stable. The Cold War was stable because there can be no winners and losers. It doesn't exist, that's not a scenario we want and so you keep the game in play because it’s stable and it is an infinite game, there are no winners or losers, what happens is players drop out when they run out of the will or of the resources to play. And then they are replaced by other players. The game perpetuates. The players change out.

Problems arise when you pit a finite player of vs an infinite player. Because the finite player is playing to win, and the infinite player is playing to stay in the game. The finite players will always get frustrated, they will find themselves in quagmire. This was the United States in Vietnam: we were fighting to win. They were fighting for their lives. This was the Soviet Union in Afghanistan: they were fighting to beat the Mujahideen, the Mujahideen would fight for as long as was necessary.

Now let's look at the game of business. The game of business is by its very definition and infinite game. It has preexisted before every single company on this planet ever existed. And it will outlast every single company on this planet. But if you listen to the words of most companies, they don't know the game they're in. You listen to companies and they want to be number one. Based on what metrics. Based on what timeframe. Revenues? Market share? Square footage? Number of employees? Based on a quarter of a year? Five years? 10 years? 50 years? I didn't agree to those standards. You can't suddenly, just arbitrarily, say we are number one. No one else agreed to the standards. It's nonsense to beat our competition. Based on what? And they are studying their competition and trying to outdo their competition.

And yet I've never heard of a company that is taken down by competitors they know. They're always taken down by competitors they don't know. Do you think that MySpace knew that Facebook existed? They were worried about Friendster.

You can't make strategic decisions from studying your competition, you can make tactical decisions from studying competition but not strategic decisions. But when you listen to the way most companies play the game, they are in the wrong game, that's why they get frustrated. The great organizations understand that their plan is to stay in the game. Jim Senegal the founder of Costco says Wall Street is in the business of making the quarter of the year, we are in the business of building a company for the next 50 years.

……….

Finite players play to beat the people around them. Infinite players play to be better than themselves. To wake up every single day and say: how can we make our company a better version of itself today than it was yesterday? How can we create a product this week that's better than the product that we created last week? We also have to play the infinite game. It's not about being ranked number one; it's not about having more followers on Twitter than your friends, it's not about outdoing anyone; it's about how to outdo yourself; it's not about selling more books or getting more Ted views them somebody else, it's about how to make sure that the work that you are producing is better than the work you produced before. You are your competition, and that is what ensures you stay in the game the longest, and that is what insures you find joy. Because the joy comes not from comparison but from advancement.

The problem is we are human beings and we love to compare.

There is an entire section in the bookshop called “self-help” there is no section in the bookshop called “help others” and the way that we fix problems in the world is not by trying to demand people to help us. How can I lose 10 pounds? How can I find love? I could I find the job of my dreams? That's what all the books say. No, it should be: how can I help my friend live a healthy lifestyle; how can I help my friend find a lifetime of fulfilment. That's what it's about. It’s about service to others, because that's what it means to be human. Everything about our makeup: our biology and our anthropology is designed to get us to look after each other. Everything about our main make up is designed to get us to take care of each other. That's why an event like this feels better than watching it online. Because we get to sit next to each other, we get to sit with each other. It’s nicer for me too. It’s much nicer for me to be here with you, because we’re social but we all have a responsibility in this tribe. If you want to have a happy successful and fulfilling, confident life, you have to commit yourself to take care of the people around you. That's just how it works. Good?